Uncooked strips of bacon can be prepared for eating by frying the bacon in a skillet or by cooking the bacon in a microwave oven. Microwave cooking is often preferred due to the shorter time necessary to cook the bacon. Various microwave bacon cooker devices are known for holding the bacon during cooking including those shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. D318,206; D366,807; 4,074,102; 4,112,833; 4,214,515; 4,343,978; 4,924,049; and 4,933,528.
Various concerns and problems arise when cooking bacon in a microwave oven. The grease produced during cooking is both messy and hot, and must be retained for disposal. Bacon that is allowed to cook on a horizontal surface will often become soaked with grease, rendering the food unpalatable. In the case of a cooking device that holds the bacon, it is desirable that the device be easy to manufacture and easy to use, while at the same time allowing for aesthetically pleasing, properly cooked, and good tasting bacon. Also, case of cleanup is a major concern. Ideally, because of the possibility of splattering grease generated during the cooking of the bacon, it would be beneficial to cook the bacon in a closed container. However, there is a need for microwave bacon cooking devices that more fully address these and other concerns and problems.
No prior art sufficiently addresses the problem of superheated steam eruptions that occur when cooking bacon. As bacon cooks in a closed container, all of the fat that drips from the bacon collects as a liquid at the bottom of the container. Most of the moisture that effervesces as steam from the bacon will be vented from the container, but some will condense as droplets on the cooler surfaces of the container and run down into the hot fat. Because water is heavier than liquid fat, it drops below the fat, where microwave energy then heats this water and converts it back to steam. It is superheated because of the weight of the fat above it, and gets more so as the layer of fat becomes thicker. Sporadically, this steam erupts in noisy bursts that can be heard outside of the oven. These steam releases can disintegrate the bacon and blow the top off the cooking container.